Bitternest

by Alan Draven

Bitternest. A Louisiana city of sunken dreams and drunken ambitions. A hidden gateway to hell infused with dark myths and a sinister history where evil lurks in every fog-shrouded corner. A pandemic of avian influenza is slowly crippling the world. Oddly, only this city appears to be resisting, but at what cost? Following a grim discovery, Detective Terry Graves is taken to a secret underground crypt, and thrown into the dark realm of vampires. There he learns that their numbers are dwindling; their only salvation lies in creating an alliance. Together, they must face a new breed of creatures waging war to both man and vampires while a drug lord with a hidden agenda plans the city s downfall. Nothing is what it seems. Terry finds himself drowning in a web of deception. Upon seeking answers, he realizes that something much worse is looming in the city, for an ancient evil has been unleashed and cannot be stopped.

354 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2007

About the author

Alan Draven was born the same year KISS unleashed their debut LP. He lives in beautiful Québec City with his lovely girlfriend. He’s been penning dark tales for nearly twenty years. His first novel, Bitternest, was published in 2007. Since then he’s written half a dozen novels mainly in the horror genre as well as a superhero novel, Heroes of the North: October Dawn in 2013, and a thriller titled Oblique in 2018 under the pseudonym Neal Vandar. He’s also edited two anthologies, Sinister Landscapes in 2008 and Creeping Shadows in 2009. In 2022, his final novel in the Bitternest series was published, Once Upon a Time in Bitternest. Amok the Powerful is his first foray into Sword & Sorcery fiction. You can visit him 24 hours a day on his blog bitternest.blogspot.com or on Twitter/X @alandraven

Reviews

[Patrick D'Orazio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Draven's first novel explores the city whose name is the title of this book. Bitternest is an appropriate name for a Louisiana city that is filled with your typical riff raff of drug dealers, crime lords, corruption, and deceipt. But that is only the beginning. Bitternest has been the home of a Vampire Circle for a century, a dying breed of the undead that has not grown or multiplied by any number for over 35 years but has always been there, taking down those they need to feed off of. The influx of a new strain of Avian Flu that is killing off the world's population has hit Bitternest and is having an interesting effect on the victims of the Vampires that are infected with it-it is turning them into half-vampires, or blood mongers, who do not fear the light of day but can be killed like regular human beings. They too crave blood and have the desire to turn the rest of the population into their kind so that they can hunt down and destroy the remaining vampires. Add to this Lilith, a very powerful creature that has been summoned to assist in the city's downfall, plus the Children of the Night, her lethal offspring, and you have a buildup of dark forces aligned against the ever diminishing police force that is trying to still figure out a way to save Bitternest from complete destruction.
Alan Draven has created a wild and fun ride that combines horror, mystery, and action in a rapid fire combination that had me racing through this book as fast as I could. He brings all the different complex elements together in a intriguing fashion, keeping you glued to the story to see how it evolves from page to page.
If I am to be critical here, and why I gave this story 4.5 stars instead of five, would be because while I acknowledge that this is Alan's first novel, the dialogue seems a bit forced and stilted in places. I could sense a growing confidence in the author's voice as the story went on, a more relaxed, normal tone for the characters taking place but it is the one area of fault I could find in this work. It is something that I see that the author is going to get better at in future works and I look forward to seeing those efforts. Make no mistake, Alan Draven has a talent and it shines through in this twisty and creative tale.

[J.b. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by my friend and fellow author, Alan Draven. An entertaining read. This is Draven's first novel and it's clear we can continue to expect great things from him. He's teamed up detectives and vampires in a Louisiana town to fight a new breed of monster...if you like horror, read this.